My Internationally Trained Accountant Registration Process – CPA Ontario, Canada

When I came to Canada 4 years ago, holding a CPA designation from my home country and with my bachelor’s degree in accounting from the “Universidad de Cartagena”, I had honestly no idea that I would find a way to practice my career in this 1^st world country and that I was going to have what it takes to succeed in achieving my CPA designation. And even though I am yet to complete two modules and pass CFE, I believe that if I have made it this far it is because I have what it takes and so do you.

There are few things I which I knew when I started my process as an ITA (Internationally Trained Accountant). For instance, going to the unofficial WhatsApp groups of the actual modules with active candidates to ask for help or request information about how to register as an ITA is not the most efficient way. In fact, they will not even know either because that is not the path they took, or because the ITA Path will depend on your home country and so will the requirements. What you want to do is reach out to ITA registration from the province if which you want to apply for CPA, and yes, each province has its own body.

Now, when you start your process CPA will assign you to a registration category. As a Colombian CPA my category was Accounting Body Outside Canada, and all the following details I am about to give you are only for this category, they might apply to other, but this is solely based on my experience.

I am registered with CPA Ontario and followed the credential creation steps they provided me with during one of the $0 seminars I took. I attached the following documents:

Proof of Identity

This was a clear scan of my passport. Back in Colombia we have something called “cedula de ciudadania” which is a government issued identity card, I am quite sure other countries have similar IDs, and they do NOT serve this purpose.

There are other options such as an Ontario Drivers License and an Ontario Health Card.

WES Credential Evaluation

They require you to apply for a Standard Application of Credential Recognition, which is different from the ECA used for immigration purposes. You CAN NOT submit both applications at once; you must allow WES to complete one application to then request the second one.

This step was the most time consuming of all when doing my registration. Since WES requests the institution to mail the translated transcripts directly and my university back home did not provide translation nor mailing, this is what I did:

1. Requested the Course-by-Course certificate via email to my university and electronically paid for them.

2. Asked the university to send me an electronic copy of the certificate so I could submit them to an official translator.

3. Had my sister pick up the official translations and bring them to the University’s admission office, so they could place them inside the sealed and stamped envelope with the original certificate to be mailed to WES by yourself, family member, or whoever is doing you a solid favor.

4. I had my poor younger sister go to the courier and mail them to WES.

CPA requires electronic delivery of WES evaluation reports. You have the option to request a copy of the reports for an additional fee. I had a tough time making sure the reports were delivered correctly to CPA, so I did a bunch of follow up emails with WES and the CPA registration office and did not have peace of mind until they told me the transcripts were included to my application.

Letter of Good Standing (LGS)

In my case, I am registered with the “Junta Central de Contadores” (JCC) in Colombia (CPA Colombia). They provide a generic certificate via website, but this only certifies my good standing as an accountant back home, and that is not what CPA was asking me for. They wanted a letter of good standing, in my case I had JCC address it to CPA Ontario, in which they state that the body itself (JCC), not me as an accountant, is in good standing.

Just like with WES, CPA wanted them to provide the LGS directly, and so JCC provided CPA with 2 certificates: one in which they stated they exist as a legit regulatory body of the accounting profession in Colombia and the second one is that they were up to date with fiscal obligations (including taxes).

Detailed Chronological Resume.

Back home we use this large “professional presentation ” file called “hoja de vida” that includes copies of diplomas, seminar certificates, copies of IDs, blood type and even our body count (Just joking with that last one). But it is seriously an exceptionally long document with a bunch of useless information that myself, when looking at who to hire for the last company I worked for in Colombia, will always disregard.

I submitted my Canadian resume. Focused on my experience as an accountant and my professional growth in the accounting field only. It is one page long.

My application was considered complete when CPA received the WES report and added it to my file on December 20th, 2022.

My student registration approved on March 9th, 2023.